Best Angel Cards for Commander EDH

Angels are one of the most popular kindred types in Commander, and for good reason. They hit hard, they fly over blockers, and a surprising number of them double as removal or protection. The challenge with angels has always been the mana cost. Most of the heavy hitters start at five mana and go up from there, which means your deck construction has to account for that.

Here are the best angel cards for Commander, whether you're building a dedicated kindred deck or just looking for strong individual includes.

Commanders worth building around

Giada, Font of Hope

Giada, Font of Hope is the go-to angel kindred commander for a reason. She comes down on turn two, which is absurdly fast for an angel deck, and she makes every angel after her enter with extra +1/+1 counters. She also taps for mana that can only be spent on angel spells. A two-mana commander that ramps you AND buffs your board is hard to beat.

Kaalia of the Vast

Kaalia of the Vast cheats the mana system entirely. Attack with Kaalia, drop Avacyn, Angel of Hope for free. The table will try to kill her on sight, but if she connects even once, the value is absurd. She opens up Mardu colors, which gives you access to removal, reanimation, and cards like Aurelia, the Warleader for extra combat steps.

Shalai and Hallar

Shalai and Hallar took the angel kindred strategy in an unexpected direction. Every time a +1/+1 counter lands on a creature you control, Shalai and Hallar deals damage equal to the counters placed. Pair that with Giada in the 99 and every angel entering the battlefield becomes a damage trigger. Naya colors give you access to green ramp, which solves the biggest problem angel decks have.

The heavy hitters

Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Eight mana. Indestructible. Gives everything else you control indestructible. Avacyn, Angel of Hope is the card that makes people scoop when she resolves. She turns every board wipe into a one-sided affair. The casting cost is real, but angel decks already run plenty of ramp to get there. Once she's on the field, your opponents need exile effects or nothing.

Aurelia, the Warleader

Aurelia, the Warleader gives you an extra combat phase the first time she attacks each turn. In a deck full of large flying creatures, that second combat usually ends someone. She's also a 3/4 with flying, vigilance, and haste, which means she's applying pressure the turn she lands.

Lyra Dawnbringer

Lyra Dawnbringer is a 5/5 first strike flyer that gives all your other angels +1/+1 and lifelink. Five mana for that statline plus a lord effect is a real rate. The lifelink adds up fast in a deck full of big flyers, and first strike makes her a nightmare to block.

Support pieces that pull their weight

Righteous Valkyrie

Righteous Valkyrie gains you life whenever an angel or cleric enters under your control. Once you hit 27 or more life (which happens fast), all your creatures get +2/+2. A three-mana creature that turns on a team-wide buff is one of the best support cards angel decks have access to.

Resplendent Angel

Resplendent Angel creates a 4/4 angel token at each end step where you gained 5 or more life. In an angel deck running Lyra Dawnbringer or Righteous Valkyrie, that trigger goes off almost every turn. She generates board presence without costing you any extra mana or cards.

Speaker of the Heavens

Speaker of the Heavens is a one-drop that taps to create a 4/4 angel token once you have 27 or more life. One mana. That's the rate. Getting to 27 life in a deck with lifelink angels is trivial. She's a role player that punches way above her weight class.

Shalai, Voice of Plenty

Shalai, Voice of Plenty gives you and all your other creatures hexproof. That shuts down targeted removal, targeted discard, and damage-based spot removal. The activated ability to put +1/+1 counters on everything is rarely relevant, but the hexproof umbrella is worth the four mana by itself.

Cards that tie the deck together

Seraph Sanctuary

Seraph Sanctuary is a land that gains you one life whenever an angel enters under your control. It costs you almost nothing to include (enters untapped, taps for colorless), and those life triggers feed Resplendent Angel and Righteous Valkyrie. Auto-include in any angel deck.

Herald of War

Herald of War gets a +1/+1 counter whenever she attacks, and angel spells you cast cost 1 less for each counter on her. In a deck where most of your threats cost five to eight mana, even two or three attacks with Herald makes your hand dramatically cheaper to deploy.

Angel of Destiny

Angel of Destiny is an alternate win condition. If you have 15 or more life than your starting total at the beginning of your end step, and Angel of Destiny dealt combat damage to a player this turn, that player loses the game. In a deck that gains life constantly, this just happens. No combo required. Just turn sideways.

Firja's Retribution

Firja's Retribution is a saga that creates a 4/4 angel token on chapter one, gives your angels double strike on chapter two, and destroys all non-angel creatures on chapter three. That's a board wipe attached to a token maker attached to a combat trick, all for four mana. It's criminally underplayed.

Building around the mana curve

The biggest trap in angel deckbuilding is loading up on six-drops and hoping for the best. You need early ramp. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, and Herald's Horn all help. If you're in green via Shalai and Hallar or another Selesnya/Naya commander, cards like Cultivate and Kodama's Reach smooth things out considerably.

Don't sleep on the cheaper angels either. Giada, Speaker of the Heavens, and Righteous Valkyrie all cost three mana or less and they set up your mid-game turns. An angel deck that does nothing before turn five is an angel deck that loses to anyone with a fast start.